Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-01-15-Speech-2-168"
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"en.20080115.24.2-168"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, first I want to thank colleagues for their valuable cooperation, and in particular Mr Frattini for his commitment since the beginning of his mandate to safeguard the rights of the child.
The report obviously does not pretend to be exhaustive, but I believe it is a good point of departure. The objective was to lay the bases for a strategy aimed at promoting and safeguarding the rights of minors in the European Union’s internal and external policies and to support Member States’ efforts in that sector. We wanted to take as our premise the specific nature of the rights of minors, which are totally distinct from the more general category of fundamental rights, although they form an integral part of them.
The strategy aims above all at the positive affirmation of the rights of the child, which include the right to a family, the right to health, education, social inclusion, but also the right to entertainment, the right to play, to engage in sport, together with the right to a clean and protected environment. In substance, the aim is to create a society tailored to the child, in which the child can feel protected and actively involved.
That is why the report is based on two main presumptions: (1) active participation of children in decision-making that affects them; (2) mainstreaming, that is to say incorporating and promoting the rights of the child in all European Union policies. In short, the rights of minors must finally become a political priority for Europe, given also that children account for about 30% of European citizens and much still remains to be done for them, beginning with the fight against violence and abuse, in face of the worrying growth of paedophilia and child pornography networks. The general objective is to ban all forms of violence, including so-called traditional practices, honour crimes, and forced marriages. It is not enough only to ensure the certain punishment of those who commit violence; we must guarantee a strategy of prevention, aimed especially at helping children at risk.
Another priority is to combat child poverty. It is worth pointing out that even within the European Union 19% of children live below the poverty line and we must, therefore, provide aid measures that are also designed to support their families. In particular, we need measures targeted at Roma children and street children, who are often forced to beg and thus become easy victims of exploitation, trafficking and organised crime.
Another basic aspect of the strategy is to guarantee the education and training of all children, including the most poor and disadvantaged. We also need measures targeted at the less able, so as to prevent any form of discrimination. We are among experts here so perhaps there is no need in this Chamber to list all the urgent problems that need to be tackled: from the marketing of violent video games to the rise in cases of international kidnapping of minors, the red tape that makes international adoptions difficult, the tragedy of the child soldiers, child labour, the failure to register the birth of a child, the remarkable number of disappeared children of which no more is ever heard. I could go on and on.
In truth, we must apply the appropriate instruments and provide prompt information in order to exchange experiences and good practice, and we must create synergy between the related legal and penal instruments in order to address the problems in concrete terms and in real time and possibly succeed in preventing them.
Let me conclude by saying that approval of the Lisbon Treaty will give us a few more chances. The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights now forms part of the Treaty, including, therefore, Article 24, which expressly governs the rights of the child, thus creating a legal basis for implementing the strategy. At this point, we as a Parliament, but above all the Member States, must set to work immediately."@en1
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